Page 23 - Bugle Spring 2024

Poland
Lt Col Rick Day
The first day of RSE 1 was little more than a day of travelling, topped off with a visit to the Home Army Museum in Krakow for an interesting read-in to Polish culture and history by one of their leading academics.
Day two was a big contrast, and one none of us are likely to forget. We visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the most notorious concentration camps from
the Holocaust. It was an opportunity
for us to pay homage to the millions of innocent lives lost during World War
II and to consider how such atrocities could ever have taken place.
The first part of the tour was to the Auschwitz I camp, the administrative centre of the complex. We entered through the gates bearing the infamous phrase “Arbeit Macht Frei” to find
a collection of brick buildings that were used as SS offices, barracks
for prisoners, and for other horrific purposes. Many of these have been converted into museums that show the scale of the atrocities. These included photographs of the victims, massive piles of shoes, suitcases, eyeglasses and prosthetic limbs. We saw the accommodation blocks where the
prisoners lived in utter squalor and even visited a gas chamber and crematorium.
After this we moved to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp, where we witnessed the vast open fields where prisoners were forced to work and suffer. Walking along the railway tracks that transported prisoners to the camp and seeing the remains of the gas chambers and crematoria are memories that will stay with us forever. We were then brought back to earth by an epic coach ride to Warsaw, including a stop at the strangest services I have ever visited.
Much of the next couple of days were spent in the Embassy getting briefings from academics, journalists and senior Polish military figures on the hot topics of the day. We also had plenty of opportunities to sample the night life in Warsaw, achieving greater cultural awareness in the process. We finished
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Walking
along the railway
tracks that transported prisoners to the camp and seeing the remains of the gas chambers and crematoria are memories that will
our time in Warsaw with a coach
tour around the city and a visit to the Warsaw Uprising Museum, itself a very moving and informative experience.
The museum is dedicated to the brave men and women who fought for their freedom during the Warsaw Uprising
of 1944, which was one of the most significant moments in Poland’s history. The exhibits are phenomenally well
put together and engage every sense. They give a comprehensive overview of
the events leading up to the uprising, the actual fighting, and the aftermath. The displays included recreated street scenes, soundscapes, and even a trip through the sewers under Warsaw! It brought to life the harsh conditions that the fighters endured and is a poignant reminder of the resilience and bravery of the Polish people.
After one final run ashore in Warsaw, and still slightly the worse for wear, we headed home to Shrivenham.
stay with us forever